3/21/2023 0 Comments Nuclear time space rift![]() The site is designed to last at least 300 years after the last shipment arrives, when the radioactivity of its contents is forecast to be no higher than levels found in nature.įor longer-life waste - mainly used nuclear fuel, which remains potentially deadly for tens of thousands of years - France is laying the groundwork for a permanent, deep-earth repository beneath corn and wheat fields outside the nearby stone-house hamlet of Bure. The storage units hold 90% of France’s low- to medium-activity radioactive waste, including tools, clothing and other material linked to reactor operation and maintenance. Our role is to guarantee the safety of people and the environment and the workers on the site,” said spokesperson Thierry Pochot. The agency that manages the waste, Andra, knows its scares people. Their cargo - compacted waste stuffed into concrete or steel cylinders - is stacked by robotic cranes in warehouses that are then filled with gravel and sealed with more concrete. They're repeatedly checked, wiped and scanned for leaks. South of the World War I battlefields of Verdun, trucks bearing radioactivity warning stickers pull into a waste storage site near the village of Soulaines-Dhuys. And it’s among leading players in the nuclear waste industry, recycling or reprocessing material from around the world. Germany is leading the pack of countries, mainly within the EU, standing firmly against labeling nuclear as “green.” Meanwhile, the Biden administration supports nuclear power, China has a dozen reactors under construction - and even Japan is promoting nuclear energy again, 10 years after the disaster at its Fukushima power plant.īut nowhere in the world is as reliant on nuclear reactors as France, which is at the forefront of the pro-nuclear push at the European and global level. ![]() “It will be much more daunting if we exclude new nuclear plants - or even more daunting if we decide to shut down nuclear plants all together.” ![]() ![]() “The scale of what human civilization is trying to do over the next 30 years (to fight climate change) is staggering,” said Matt Bowen, of Columbia University's Center for Global Energy Policy. Nuclear accidents are scary but exceedingly rare - while pollution from coal and other fossil fuels causes death and illness every day, scientists say. Critics decry its mammoth price tag, the disproportionate damage caused by nuclear accidents, and radioactive leftovers that remain deadly for thousands of years.īut increasingly vocal and powerful proponents - some climate scientists and environmental experts among them - argue that nuclear power is the world’s best hope of keeping climate change under control, noting that it emits so few planet-damaging emissions and is safer on average than nearly any other energy source. SOULAINES-DHUYS, France (AP) - Deep in a French forest of oaks, birches and pines, a steady stream of trucks carries a silent reminder of nuclear energy’s often invisible cost: canisters of radioactive waste, heading into storage for the next 300 years.Īs negotiators plot out how to fuel the world while also reducing carbon emissions at climate talks in Scotland, nuclear power is a central sticking point. ![]()
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